NH House: Life Issues and Educational Choice Await Action

A New Hampshire bill to repeal a new education tax credit for businesses donating to a school-choice scholarship fund for K-12 students will get a committee vote on February 12. Two days later, a resolution celebrating the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade will get a hearing, as will an informed consent bill.

Passed by an overwhelmingly Republican legislature in the last session, the tax credit repeal (HB 370) was one of the earliest bills filed by the new Democratic majority. The Ways and Means committee listened to four hours of testimony on January 31, with parents of children who could benefit from educational opportunity scholarships going up against legislators and educators who called the tax credit law “unconstitutional.” The tax credit law also faces a lawsuit filed recently by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union. The law went into effect on January 1, when businesses became free to donate to the scholarship fund. No scholarships have been awarded to date. Action on the bill by the full House could come as early as February 20.

The pro-Roe resolution (HR 6) will be heard in the Health Human Services and Elderly Affairs committee on February 14 just a half hour before a hearing in Judiciary on the bill to require informed consent from women seeking abortion (HB 483). The resolution has eight co-sponsors, including two Republicans, all of them veteran legislators. The informed consent bill was introduced by freshman Rep. Jane Cormier (R-Alton). Floor action on these two measures has not yet been scheduled.

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About Ellen Kolb

Ellen Kolb writes about the life issues on her blog, Leaven for the Loaf. She and her husband live in New Hampshire. She delights in the Granite State's parks and trails, and whenever possible, she's outdoors enjoying that particular slice of God's creation.